Talking about his struggles with mental health and addiction on camera made rapper Vic Mensa nervous, but he did it anyway. Mensa says he knew being open about his own experiences would help others.

Though Mensa has opened up about dealing with his mental health, especially as a Black man, in his music and in interviews, he's learned that he can reach a different audience by sharing his experiences on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

"I'm just realizing how I can furthest spread that message and accelerate that conversation through these channels," Mensa, 31, tells CNBC Make It.

"I've always had a philosophy that vulnerability is like my superpower."

On March 20, Mensa recorded a video sitting in his car right after his second-ever Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and shared it on his TikTok and Instagram accounts.

"Something I was talking about [in the meeting] was how my addictions blossomed out of a lifetime of depression," Mensa said.

That first post got over 60,000 likes across the platforms, with thousands of users joining in on the conversation in the comments sections.

The reaction to that video helped jumpstart a series on his platform where Mensa has mental health conversations directly with his fanbase.

In the second video of his series Mensa discussed his battle with suicidal ideation.

Mensa tells CNBC Make It that he started drinking alcohol when he was 10 or 11 years old. After several drunken altercations that placed him in jail and a bad car accident after a night of drinking, he realized his relationship with alcohol was detrimental.

"I had to realize, 'What has alcohol been doing for me? I mean, what positive benefit can I even say I've been deriving from this?'" he says.

Mensa stopped drinking almost four years ago.

"I train myself to be disciplined. And that's probably the most critical part of cutting out alcohol is just having the discipline to say, 'This is my decision.'"

Mensa also strengthens that discipline by practicing meditation: "I would probably say the single most impactful factor in me managing my mental health in a much more healthy way is meditation."

Mensa started practicing meditation when he was 16 years old, but started exploring it more deeply in recent years through meditation retreats, including one led by Sadhguru.

"I have to meditate on a daily [basis] and when I don't, I feel like I'm slipping back into an unmanageable emotional state," Mensa says.

Mensa, who is also an actor, plans to discuss tools for those struggling with mental health on this upcoming season of "The Chi" through his character, Jamal.

"I'm grateful to go through, and have gone through, the things that I have in order to have a perspective that can be of use," Mensa says.

"If I can help give someone a relatable experience and potentially show the possibility of a light at the end of the tunnel, then I think that's a job well done."

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC's new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.